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LLEYTON Hewitt last night overcame plenty: a diabolical
preparation, a two-sets-to-love deficit and some of the lamest
tennis of his distinguished career before surviving his first-round
Australian Open encounter with American journeyman Michael
Russell.

Hewitt had replaced his coach and hurt his calf on the eve of
the Open, and for the first two-and-a-half sets, it appeared that
his problematic lead-in would bring him undone, as he trailed two
sets to love and a break while seeming utterly impotent against
Russell, a 28-year-old who ended last year ranked 145th in the
world and has not been higher than 85 in a decade on tour.

Hewitt finally prevailed 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. What might
have been a career nadir became another triumph for persistence.
Instead of facing questions about his future, Hewitt won a
reprieve.

Watched by his new, interim coach Scott Draper, the Hewitt of
sets one and two was listless and without his trademark speed,
consistency or aggression. He could not sustain rallies, pass his
zippy opponent or serve with any venom. He was Lleyton Light, a
pale version of the pitbull.

Before the match, Draper had suggested on television that
Hewitt's calf - hurt in Adelaide in early January - was "fine" and
expressed that the hope that "the competitor in him comes out
tonight."

Ultimately, that indomitable competitor emerged in the middle of
the third set and shoved the Pale Lleyton aside.

Last night was only the third time Hewitt has come from two sets
to love behind to win. The first was against Guillermo Canas at the
French Open in 2001, and the second, more memorable occasion was in
2003, when he outlasted Roger Federer at Melbourne Park in a Davis
Cup semi-final.

The pattern of the match was reversed once Hewitt broke back in
the third set. Thereafter, the American's self-belief ebbed,
Hewitt's soared and, while the Australian was still behind, his
victory seemed assured by early in the fourth set.

It is a measure of how gone he seemed that Hewitt was paying $8
to win a two-horse race against a qualifier on Betfair when he was
two sets to love and a break down. By the middle of the fourth set,
Hewitt was $1.37 to win. The betting agency was offering interest
rate returns ($1.09) on Hewitt by the start of the fifth.

It was noteworthy that, while he playing out of his skin for an
hour-and-a half, Russell also had a formline that suggested a
capitulation if Hewitt could hang on and force a fight.

In 2001, Russell lost a fourth-round match and his clouded his
moment in the sun, blowing a two-sets to love lead and match point
in the third set against clay master Gustavo Kuerten at the French
Open. Kuerten went on to win the tournament.

The extent of Hewitt's early struggle was most evident in his
uncharacteristic error-rate. In the second set alone, he made made
14 unforced errors - a significantly greater number than he made in
an entire Wimbledon final in 2002. His serve was off-key, too.

But once it turned, nearly every missing component of his game -
serve, return, speed - abruptly returned. Quiet for the first two
hours, he also found voice, began to clench fists and the "c'mon"
count multiplied.

Russell is in some ways a poor man's version of Hewitt -like the
Australian he is relatively short, quick and smart. He served
extremely well, landing about 90 per cent of first serves in the
opening set before collapsing under the weight of Hewitt's
momentum.

A Hewitt defeat last night would have been his worst result at
Melbourne Park since 2002, when he had chickenpox.

In other matches, British star Andy Murray launched his Open
with a 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Spanish baseliner Alberto
Martin, and fifth seed James Blake had 7-6 (10-8), 6-2, 6-4 win
over Spaniard Carlos Moya.

Meanwhile, Russian Nikolay Davydenko has apologised for comments
he made about last week's Sydney International after pulling out of
the tournament through injury.

The world No.3 said he had not intended to criticise the warm-up
event in Sydney when he described it as "small". He was fined
$10,000.

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